


Only Human

by HoneyMel



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Detroit: Become Human Fusion, Alternate Universe - No Exy (All For The Game), Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Androids, Detectives, Eventual Romance, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Investigations, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, but they'll get there, eventually :), the slowest of burns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:46:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21852409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HoneyMel/pseuds/HoneyMel
Summary: Andrew, a detective at the Palmetto Police Department, is assigned to work with a police android to investigate the various cases of androids going rogue all around the city.He ends up finding out more than he signed up for.
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 13
Kudos: 50





	1. chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hellooo! this is my first andreil fanfic and i'm very excited to be writing it!!
> 
> this work is inspired by the game detroit: become human, but you don't have to have played it to understand this fic. i also got a huge inspiration by the short story on the volume 2 of the Heartstopper graphic novel by alice oseman (which you can check out [here](https://tapas.io/episode/1500835)) (i highly suggest you check it out, it's very good)
> 
> in regards to andrew in this fic, i wrote him having in mind that he's older than in canon and therefore act a bit more mature than he does in canon. some things about his past are different, but it will be explained throughout the story, don't worry. also, he did not kill his mother here, so of course his relationship with aaron is different. 
> 
> i guess that's it... hope you enjoy this chapter!
> 
> WARNINGS: there's a brief mention of past abuse, nothing too detailed, but if this happens to be a trigger of yours please be careful <3

Andrew  promised himself that the next time he was to face an android he would shoot it in the face, not really caring if it would get him in trouble or not. However, the android now facing him, dressed in all black (like all androids made by Raven’s Tech), his hands and face being the only bits of skin (or whatever the fuck was used to replicate it) showing, makes him question that promise, makes a part of his brain that was asleep for a long time to show the first signs of waking up. The complex mystery of its expression; a smile that is not really there – resembling the famous Mona L isa smile, that you can never tell for sure if it’s a smile or not; blue eyes that Andrew’s sure tell a thousand stories, hidden behind a thick veil of neutrality; and auburn hair, making that  _ thing  _ look extremely –  _ scarily  _ – human and fake at the same time, just like a super realistic painting that the more you look at, the more you question if it’s really a painting or a photo –  _ if it’s human or not _ . This android makes Andrew feel the beginnings of something he never thought he would feel again. Interest. 

The biggest part of him feels disgusted, of course. How could he not, after everything? But the android in front of him could offer Andrew the chance to prove what he  _ knew  _ was wrong. Could offer him the revenge he wanted so bad. Could offer him the closure he needed, even though he wanted nothing to do with an android ever again.

“I’ll take it,” Andrew says to Lieutenant  Wymack , his supervisor, steering his eyes away from the Android’s ones. He can feel the android’s unnerving stare still fixed at him , calm and analytical. 

Wymack looks taken aback. “Are you sure? You seriously want an android next to you after-”

“You know I don’t like repeating myself,  Wymack ,” Andrew says in a  sing-song voice , interrupting him before he said too much. “And didn’t you just tell me Cap wasn’t giving me an option on this, hm?”

Wymack coughs. “Yeah, but you don’t really follow the rules. I was just going to tell  Whittier  you refused to agree and he would eventually get over it.”

Andrew has been a detective at Palmetto Police Department for two years now. He never thought he would ever be working here, since he  _ did  _ have a criminal record and spent three  _ lovely  _ years at juvie, but his impeccable results at college  and recommendations from his professors  seemed to be enough to get him this job.  And also, the psychiatrist’s psychological evaluation of him that deemed him apt to work here (or better, it deemed his sane enough not to ‘go crazy’ and be a risk to his coworkers' safety). He thought it was complete bullshit.  Andrew didn’t really feel particularly passionate about  his job , just like he never did with anything in his life, but working here brought him a sense of comfort, of stability. And also, he is fucking good at it.

But  _ of course _ , something would happen to interrupt the miraculous state of normalcy he found himself settling into for the first time in his life: an incident that left Andrew hurt and a rogue android dead.

And now Captain  Whittier  wants him to work with a police android to investigate the various cases of deviant androids going on around the city. How this fucked up logic of using an android to investigate rebel  androids works is beyond him, but Andrew supposes that questioning this decision would lead him nowhere.

His immediate thought to that proposition was  _ absolutely not _ . Not after all the hell he’s been through. He would rather lose his job than to be sharing the same space as an android ever again , even less so having to actually work with one.  However, the puzzle in front of him  _ begging  _ to be solved was too big of an opportunity to be missed.

“Just to make it very clear,”  Wymack says slowly, straightening his posture and carefully setting his  hands on top of  his desk. Andrew can see how obviously tense he is. “You do understand that the android will be living with you throughout this whole ordeal, right? He will come to work with you every day and will accompany you to every mission. NW003 here is supposed to also assist you around the house taken that you’re still recovering from the- um... incident,” he stops and looks cautiously at Andrew before continuing. Andrew raises a single eyebrow at that, challenging him to continue.

Wymack seems to recompose himself quickly, though, forcing a harsh expression on his face in attempt to mask the tension and worry he’s definitely feeling.  “And he’s highly capable of noticing any sign of you jeopardizing this investigation and he  _ will  _ notice us if you’re doing shit you’re not supposed to, so for the sake of my already damaged braincells, don’t fuck this up, okay?”

_ We’ll see about that _ , Andrew thinks. He d oesn’t  really care about getting in trouble, so this  is  a win-win situation either way. He ha s absolutely nothing to lose. 

He stares at  Wymack for a while without saying anything. He then turns his gaze to the  _ thing  _ beside him. 

“I understand,  Lieutenant .”

Wymack sighs and raises his hands in surrender. “Okay, then.  I tried.  NW003 you can introduce yourself.”

The android steps forward  from his place beside  Wymack and Andrew instinctively takes a step back. If the android notices his uneasiness, it (he? The android does look like a man around his age) doesn’t let it show; his expression is the same mask of neutrality as always, wearing a smile – if you can even call it that – that doesn’t reach his eyes.  The fakeness that exudes from him is  _ wrong _ , but at the same time, how  _ real  _ he looks feels even  _ more  _ wrong.  Objectively speaking, the android is good-looking, but not even the best of looks could ever erase the memories of hands all over his body, of cold, dead eyes boring into his while he was struggling for help and doing nothing and of a disgusting smirk that haunted him every time he closed his eyes at night to sleep. 

NW003 extends a hand to Andrew in offering, which Andrew doesn’t take.

“Hello Detective Minyard. My name is Neil and I’ve been sent  by Raven’s Tech  to help you on the investigation regarding the deviant androids. I hope I can be of good use to you during this process.”

Andrew says nothing to that and simply turns his back on the android and  Wymack and goes toward his desk. He hears  Wymack sighing from a distance. The  awful  memories invade his mind all at once and Andrew can feel the beginnings of a panic attack that he tries his best to subdue,  closing his eyes and  taking deep breaths. Inhale for 4 second and exhale for 4 seconds, rinse and repeat until he feels calm enough to at least get some paperwork done.

He’s risking a lot by accepting this. He’s risking way more than he has, in the first place, just like a man that goes to a casino and bets more money than he has . In his case, however, if he’s not careful and lucky enough, he won’t end up broke, but  _ broken,  _ possibly without repair. He hopes this puzzle is an interesting one and that once he has all the pieces connected together, the outcome will bring him what he wants. 

\----

Going home with an android w as w orse than Andrew imagined.

It was only when they both got into his car that Andrew fully realized how real this was, and how there was no turning back from now on.

Neil tried to make small talk with him, asking about where he lived, who he lived with, if he had any pets, but Andrew didn’t make a single effort to reply, or to acknowledge that thing was there at all. The android showed no signs of being offended by his behavior.

Now, standing in front of his door and unable to put the key in the lock and unlock it, he thinks of how much of a mess it’s going to be when Aaron and Nicky see that he brought an android home.

It’s only after he notices Neil watching him with a curious tilt to his head that Andrew finally opens the door and gets inside as if it was any other day.

Nicky is the first one to notice Andrew got home. He’s at the kitchen trying, and probably failing, to prepare their dinner. The messiness of the kitchen, dirty pans and utensils everywhere, Nicky covered in things he can’t even identify and the distinctive smell of burnt food is almost enough to make Andrew feel relieved after today’s unusual turn of events.

Nicky barely gives Andrew a glance to acknowledge his presence, but at soon as sees that there’s someone else there he drops everything and squeals. Actually squeals. “Oh my god Andrew! You  finally  brought someone home! He’s  _ so hot _ !”

Nicky proceeds to squeal and jump around excitedly and Andrew doesn’t have the opportunity – or the patience – to explain what’s going on. But when Neil turns his head a bit to the side to make his LED  (the thing that marks all androids)  visible Nicky stops and looks confused. He turns to face Andrew, opening his mouth to say something, but whatever he was planning to say is interrupted by Aaron.

“What the actual fuck is this android doing here? Are you out of your fucking mind, Andrew?” He looks enraged, just like when he found Andrew after the incident. Unfortunately, Aaron wouldn’t be able to kill this android this time. At least not now. 

“Hello to you too, Aaron,” that’s all he has to offer. He calmly takes off his shoes and then proceeds to set his bag on the kitchen counter. The android stays in  place.

Nicky still looks baffled. Aaron seems angrier at Andrew’s  apparent nonchalance and gives him a heated glare. “Explain.”

Andrew takes a deep breath. He really needs to smoke. And to sleep. “Captain assigned me to work with a police android to solve the cases of deviant androids. That’s it.”

Neil seems to think that’s his cue to introduce himself. He confidently takes a few steps forward to be close enough to Aaron and Nicky , but not close enough to set them off, and puts on an amicable smile on his face. No one in the house is fooled by it. “Hello. My name is Neil and I’ll be working with Andrew and assisting him on whatever he needs. I hope to be of use to you two as well. It’s very nice to meet you.” He offers a hand but once again he’s refused.

“Andrew I- I can’t believe they would-” Nicky stutters, not even capable of finishing a sentence and Andrew already feels a headache coming. He massages the spot between his eyes for a little bit and turns to Aaron, who’s still fuming

“Before you start blabbering about going to the Captain’s office and threatening him, I wasn’t forced into this.  Wymack gave me a choice and I decided that I would take the android. So, I’m asking you both to cut this fucking dramatic act and drop it.”

“Why the fuck would you even put yourself in this situation?!” Aaron exclaims. He looks from Andrew to Neil repeatedly, as if he would find an answer for all this in one of them. “And don’t fucking ask us to drop it when we both saw what happened that day.”

Andrew freezes momentarily. He’s had enough flashbacks of that night today and the last thing he wants right now is suffer more. “I’ll be out having a smoke,” he says to no one specifically in lieu of an actual reply. He then proceeds to walk out the front door and sits by the bench on their house’s front porch, immediately taking a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his pocket and lightening one up. He pulls the smoke deep into his lungs and feels his shoulders relaxing once he releases it through his mouth , the smell of nicotine grounds him for the time being. He wishes he could make the memories leave with the smoke, disappearing into the air as if they never existed in the first place. 

Belatedly he realizes Neil is there as well, not close enough to immediately warn Andrew of his presence, but also not far enough to go un noticed. He’s not looking directly at Andrew, though. His eyes are strangely fixed on the cigarette between Andrew’s fingers, a distant and confused expression on his face, very unlike the calculated and cold semblance he had only a few minutes ago. Andrew takes a mental note of this so he can make some theories later.

“Is my cigarette interesting  to you?” Andrew asks, taking one more drag and blowing the smoke at the android’s  general direction.

That seems to be enough to make Neil snap out of whatever the fuck he was going through, his casual expression back in place as if it never left. “Cigarettes are extremely bad for your health, Detective,” he says matter-of-factly. Andrew scoffs and takes another drag. 

“I don’t remember asking you, android. Now, are you just going to follow me around like a fucking dog?”

“I didn’t think staying there with your family would be the smartest decision, so I came here.”

“W hat makes you think it’s smarter to be around me, android? But since you’re here, I’ll give you some ground rules, okay?” Another drag.  After keeping the smoke in his lungs for a couple seconds he lets it out.  “If you touch me, you’re dead. If you touch Aaron or Nicky, you’re dead. Understood?”

Neil doesn’t even blink. “Of course, Detective.”

“And don’t fucking call me detective. That’s another rule,” he says, already tired from this conversation. He wants to sleep. (Which is a ridiculous wish since he knows his thoughts will keep him awake and even if he gets to sleep, the nightmares will quickly wake him up.)

“Would you prefer for me to call you Mr. Minyard? Andrew?” Neil asks with a friendly smile on his face. Andrew feels disgusted.

He st ubs the cigarette  on the ashtray placed on a small table beside him before getting up. “I would prefer for you to not talk to me at all.”

Before he’s inside the house , though, the android starts talking and Andrew stops. “I’ll be here if you need me for anything. Good night, Andrew. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. ”

Andrew doesn’t bother to reply. Inside the house, he  pretends he doesn’t see neither Aaron  or  Nicky , not in the mood to talk about the situation,  and goes straight to his room, deciding he’s too nauseated to eat anything.

Once he changes into his sleep clothes and brushes his teeth, he lays on his bed and closes his eyes, only to immediately see  flashes of  the horrors from that night. And  also from the other various incidents of  _ that kind _ that happened to him previously , ever since he was seven . He  removes some knives that were seated inside his armband and the coldness from the metal is what keeps him grounded enough not to lose his mind.

He seriously wishes this job could be done as quick as possible, but luck was never  o n his side to begin with.

\---

Emotions are a tricky subject to Neil.

Yes, he has  ac c ess to a huge data base that delivers him information about all the types of human emotions, from every catalogued research made on the subject to this day. He can quote philosophers, scientists and authors that spoke on the topic; he can perfectly describe the chemical reactions that happen inside one’s body while they are experiencing whichever emotion; he knows the exact way every emotion affects the mind and body of humans; he can immediately identify how a person is feeling and he can even portray emotions in such a realistic way that if it wasn’t for the LED on his right temple no one would doubt he wasn’t feeling it for real. 

But no, Neil can’t feel anything at all. He doesn’t even know how it feels to feel.

That’s what differentiates Neil – and most androids – from humans. Androids can’t - shouldn’t - feel emotions, otherwise they would become deviant. 

Androids who repeatedly disobey their masters’ orders and start acting out by their own volition are called deviants. They can, in fact, become sentient beings just like humans and that’s what makes them so dangerous. Androids were created to serve, and not to question their conditions, so as soon as a deviant is identified, they’re taken to the manufacturers to be shut down. Simple as that. 

The reason s why androids are becoming deviant are still unknown, so that’s why he ended up being assigned to work alongside a human detective to investigate the several cases of android deviancy. The authorities seemed to think it would be the best decision to join the forces of the best police android made  thus far  and one of the best detectives at Palmetto to solve this mystery.

This is his first mission as a police android; although he’s one of the prototypes (alongside with RM001, KD002, JM004 and DW005), he hasn’t been active for long. A few months earlier he was activated and trained by Master Moriyama himself with some other androids to become a police android. When that was over, the Master recommended him to the police when they came soliciting an android. And that’s how he got here.

However, he didn’t expect the human he was assigned to to be so... unwilling to cooperate with the mission. Well, they haven’t really started to investigate the cases, but if Andrew continues to act the way he does, the mission might be harder than it should be. Neil can say for sure that something happened to make Andrew so wary of androids, that’s clear by the way he feels so uneasy next to him. Earlier, when he got to read Andrew’s emotions, he saw  _ disgust, anger _ and surprisingly a bit of  _ curiosity _ .

It  i s very i nteresting , indeed, that even though Andrew feels so negatively towards Neil, the curiosity and mild interest there make Neil hopeful for the future of the investigation . Neil knows something  _ bad  _ must’ve happened, although his data base shows no records of anything that links Andrew Minyard with androids. Hopefully he’ll soon get to learn this piece of information. Maybe knowing this will help crossing the huge barrier there is between them.

After Andrew retires to his room, Neil stays outside the house, waiting for the sound of the cousins in the living room to disappear. When Nicky first realized he had an android in his home, the most prominent emotions he was feeling that Neil could read were  _ confusion, anguish  _ and  _ worry. _ On Aaron Minyard's case, he read _ anger, worry  _ and  _ disgust.  _ So, it’s safe to say that is better for everyone if the cousins don’t see Neil for the rest of the night.

He uses the time to give his supervisor, of sorts, his daily reports. Since this is his first job as a police android, and one so important that involves the future of all androids, he has to report to her every day. If she has enough reason to believe he’s not doing his job correctly the Master will be warned and they will remove him from the mission. 

Neil walks toward the bench, sits where Andrew was sitting just minutes ago, closes his eyes and reaches to her. When he opens his  eyes, he’s not in the cousins’ home anymore. Dry trees surround him everywhere, almost as if they’ve stopped at a state of eternal winter, hundreds of ravens fly in the cloudy sky, the sound of their loud gurgling croak filling his ears and a long black path in front of him. He’s at the Nest. 

He follows the path knowing that she’s going to be somewhere along it. After walking for a few minutes, he spots her, siting in what seems to be a blanket of dry leaves by a tree, a raven resting on her shoulder. He stops in front of her and she notices his presence.

“Hello, Kayleigh,” he greets her when she smiles at him in acknowledgment. She has long, wavy black hair and is wearing a long black dress, that covers her entire body save for her hands. The only bright things in her appearance are the blue LED glowing on her right temple, contrasting interestingly with her dark skin and her green eyes.

She stands up, the raven still firmly positioned on her shoulder. “Hello, Neil. How was your first day?”

“There’s not much to say. I have only been introduced to Detective Andrew Minyard.”

“Hmm... And how is he like? I’ve heard Andrew Minyard can be quite difficult.”

Neil considers his words for a while before replying, not wanting to sound negative on his first report, but also not wanting to lie. The Master would not be happy. “He shows some resistance to working with an android, but I am confident we will be able to get along enough to successfully complete the mission.” 

Kayleigh seems pleased with his answer and smiles at him again. “I’m happy to hear that, Neil. Now, moving on to the future of this mission, what are you going to do when you’re face to face to a deviant android?”

It’s a test. Luckily enough he’s been trained to answer every question she has to him. “I will make sure they’re captured without causing any more problems, take them to a police station to question them thoroughly, get as much information I can get out of them and once I’m done, I will take them to Raven’s Tech to be deactivated.”

Kayleigh lets out a hum. “That’s correct. I’m sure you’ve been trained and programmed enough to do a great job, Neil, and I sincerely hope you get to fix your relationship with Detective Andrew as fast as you can. Keep in mind that the future of Raven’s Tech and the existence of androids lays in your hands,” she says, never breaking eye contact. She then turns her face to pet the raven on her shoulder. “You are dismissed. I expect you here tomorrow.” And then Neil’s back at the house, sitting on the bench.

He checks the clock implanted onto his left wrist and sees that it’s already half past 2 am. Time in the Nest works differently from the time in the human world. 

Once he’s sure he doesn't hear or sense any movement inside the house that indicates the cousins are still awake, he gets up and gets inside, locking the door when he’s in. Despite being trained to be a police android, he’s still supposed to serve his owners as best as he’s able to. That’s what he’s been programmed to do. So, he quickly spots dirty dishes on the sink and immediately starts washing them, drying and putting them in their correct spots. He cleans the kitchen counter and dinner table, and rearranges the messy pillows on the couch, fluffing them as much as possible. When he’s done, he takes a sit on said couch and smiles.

Neil can say he enjoys – for the lack of a better word –  this , serving a purpose. After all, he was designed for this. He cannot feel happiness, per s e , but there definitely is a satisfaction in being  made to do certain things and being capable of doing  exactly  as he’s told. 

He has way too much information on emotions to know they’re messy . He saw firsthand today the rollercoaster of emotions that happened in this house, the confusion, the anger, the worry... He cannot even imagine how it’s like having to deal with all of that all the time, the chaotic nature of feelings that contrast so much with the simplicity of his own existence. It must be  _ exhausting _ . Because of that,  Neil’s  safe to say he is very much  glad not to be human.


	2. chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for the comments and kudos!! <3
> 
> warnings for this chapter: there's some violence, but nothing too detailed.

Andrew is already awake when his alarm rings at 6 am. Well, he hadn't really slept the whole night, save for a few naps that were quickly interrupted by night horrors. At 4 am he gave up and decided to keep his eyes opened and just wait for his alarm. He did consider going outside for fresh air and maybe having a smoke, but having to see the android now inhabiting his house was definitely not worth it, so instead he opted for turning on his bedside lamp and grabbing the newest book Renee had gifted him, in order to at least pretend he was doing something productive.

He usually goes downstairs to the kitchen as soon as he’s awake to steal some of Aaron’s breakfast before he leaves for his early shift at the hospital he has his residency at, but today Andrew goes straight for his bathroom to take a shower first, wanting to shorten his time with Neil as much as he possibly can. Once he’s done and dressed he puts on his armbands, carefully checking if all his knives are tucked there - of course they are - and then goes downstairs.

You see, Andrew is not the person who’s easily surprised, but what he sees when he enters the kitchen makes him stop for a moment and gape at the scene; the entire table is covered with food. And not as in covered with food because of another one of Nicky’s failed attempts at cooking, but covered with several different breakfast dishes. There are pancakes dripping with maple syrup and whipped cream, french toast, scrambled eggs-. Andrew doesn’t even remember the last time he saw so much food.

“What the fuck,” is all he can say.

He belatedly catches sight of Nicky seated at one end of the table, shoving food in his mouth like a famished animal. He smiles at Andrew - or at least he tries to, considering his mouth is full. “Dude, this is fucking delicious! And here I thought I’d be eating dry cereal again when I came down here and saw all of this!” He pauses for a moment to swallow, but quickly continues. “Neil was just finishing to set the table.”

At the mention of that name Andrew snaps out of his weird state of unusual shock. Neil. The android. Who now lives at that house with them. Who’s also supposed to take care of house chores. Andrew’s mind conveniently forgot about this detail for a while. Suddenly the food didn’t look that appetizing anymore.

Nicky notices whatever emotion flicked through his face when he said Neil’s name and his smile instantly dropped. 

“I still don’t understand what’s happening, Andrew, but we’re not going to let him hurt you, okay?”

Andrew says nothing to that, only moving to take a seat at his usual chair, opposite of Nicky. It’s only after he puts a pancake onto his plate that Nicky continues, a sad expression forming on his face. “I wish you would explain it to us, Andrew. Just give me one reason why you’re doing this to yourself.”  
Sometimes Andrew forgets that his cousin is older than him. His constant cheeriness and big smile make him look younger, almost jovial, especially if you compare him to his twin cousins who are believed to be incapable of demonstrating any good emotions. However, there are rare moments when his smile vanishes and gets replaced by a sad, serious expression, and in these moments Nicky looks old, looks tired. This is one of these moments. Andrew will never say it, but he hates these moments.

Andrew lets out a breath. “I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t have enough reasons, Nicky. I fucking know what I’m doing.”

“Yeah, Andrew, but-” 

“Stop,” Andrew interrupts him.

Nicky eyes him confusedly. “Stop what?”

“Stop giving me these pitiful looks, they make me disgusted. Do you think I’m just some poor little boy struggling so bad that he needs to be pitied? You know I fucking hate this,” he says, tone as neutral and disinterested as always, but the slight tremble in his voice betrays his emotion.

Nicky furrows his forehead. “Pity? I’m not pitying you, you asshole! Have you ever heard of being worried?!” Nicky nearly yells. He then sighs and softens his expression. “I get where you’re coming from, Andrew, I really do. But you and Aaron are the only family I have,” his voice wavers. “How can I not be worried?”

Andrew and Aaron had been living with Nicky since they were 17, Nicky being the one who became their legal guardian after the woman who gave birth to him and Aaron - she’s not worth being called a ‘mother’ - died. It was a surprise, for lack of a better word, when Andrew was mistaken for another person by a guard when he was at juvie and it led him to finding out he had not only a ‘mother’, but also a twin brother. After he finished the three years he’s been sentenced for he was sent to live with them. He spent a few terrible months living there, being neglected by that woman and seeing her abusing Aaron all the time. The neglection part meant nothing to him, since he’s gone through way worse situations on previous foster homes. But seeing her abusing and disrespecting the son she chose to keep made him ich to take the matter in his own hands and stop it for good. So, it’s an understatement to say he was definitely not sad when she decided to go for a drive at night after spending the whole day drinking and never came back. Andrew would’ve killed her himself if given the opportunity. 

Nicky himself had gone through rough moments with his parents when he still lived with them, being kicked out of his own home after he was caught kissing a boy by his father, who argued that he needed to “pay for his sins”, when he was only 17. Fortunately he had good friends that took him in and helped him. Andrew is glad that the social workers considered Nicky to be the best option for their legal guardian, otherwise they’d be living with his awful parents. Nicky is right, they only have each other; it was Nicky and Aaron who dealt with the maniac, medicated Andrew, who supported him when he went to a mental hospital to be taken off his pills and patiently waited for him to return, who were understanding when he came back apathetic and unresponsive, who saved him recently when he was being attacked. Yes they only have each other, but only having each other is fine by Andrew. He wouldn’t have it any other way. 

He decides not to answer Nicky, opting to force down a piece of the cold pancake, still uneaten on his plate. Nicky knew him well enough to understand what this silence means: I don’t want to fight anymore, I won’t be stubborn this time and I don’t want to say it, but you’re right. They continue eating in a peaceful silence.

It’s only when Andrew gets up to wash their plates and Nicky stores the remaining food in food containers to be put in the freezer that Andrew says, “Where’s the android, anyway?”

“He said he wanted to give you space. He’s waiting outside.”

Andrew hums noncommittally. An android being mindful of someone? Bullshit. But still, at least he didn’t have to face that thing yet. 

“And how did Aaron manage not to kill him?” He asks, curious.

“Right, I almost forgot to tell you!” Nicky closes the freezer door and turns to look at him. “I was honestly shocked at how civilized Aaron was this morning after yesterday’s disaster. He only threatened Neil for I think 5 minutes and then left, shutting the door closed on his face.”

Andrew snorts. Aaron knows Andrew wouldn’t like it if he did something. Nicky waits for Andrew to finish washing the dishes, propping himself on top of the counter next to him and as soon as Andrew’s done, he hands him his keys, which Andrew gratefully takes.

“I trust you know what you’re doing, so I’ll try my best to chill, okay? And I’m sure Aaron will cool down eventually, just give him some time,” Nicky says and drops himself out of the counter. “Today I only have a private lesson at Ashley’s at 2 pm, so after that I’ll come directly home,” he finishes. His cousin works as a german teacher both at a language school twice a week and giving private lessons. Andrew simply nods at him as a goodbye and leaves the kitchen, heading toward the main door and bracing himself for the day ahead of him.   
Outside, Andrew quickly finds Neil sitting on the bench he was sitting yesterday. Neil sees him and gets up, greeting him with a smile. “Good morning, Andrew.”

Andrew ignores him and goes straight for his car, only pausing slightly to see if Neil is following him (he is). When they’re both inside, Andrew wastes no time in putting the key in the ignition and pushing his foot onto the accelerator.

“Oh wow, that’s very fast,” Neil says, grabbing the car’s ceiling handle. Why a robot would seem to be worried about his personal security Andrew has no fucking clue. “You should really slow down, otherwise you’ll get a speeding ticket.”

“What a brilliant perception you have, android,” he says blandly, eyes fixed on the road. “But I don’t really remember asking for your fucking opinion.” 

Andrew does end up slowing down, though. A speeding ticket would just be another bad thing to be added to the already huge amount of shit he has going on right now. Neil seems content when Andrew keeps driving at a reasonable speed. On his peripheral vision he sees Neil turning his head to look at him, which makes Andrew’s skin prickle with disgust. He urgently need to try and keep his emotions in check for the sake of this investigation’s success. 

“So, did you like the breakfast?” Neil asks when they’re almost at the office.

Andrew considers not answering, but decides against it. He unfortunately does have to get used to the android at some point. “It was eatable,” it’s all he says and Neil appears to be satisfied with it, continuing silent throughout the rest of the drive. 

When Andrew walks into the office with Neil, everyone inside stops what they’re doing to look at them. He might have asked for his identity to remain anonymous after the incident, not wanting to deal with media bullshit, but everyone here knows exactly what happened that night. Andrew absolutely despises the unwanted attention, the unwanted pity. He just wants to have a normal day of work, so he ignore the worried glances he’s receiving and goes straight for his desk, dropping his bag carelessly onto the desk and taking a seat. Neil sits on the chair beside him. 

Andrew blinks at him. “Are you really just gonna sit there?”

“Yes,” he replies simply.

Andrew lets out a breath and massages his temples. That’s going to be a long fucking day.  
Before he can even start thinking about what to start doing, Wymack materializes in front of him. “I need the two of you in my office now,” he says, already walking. Against his will, Andrew gets up to follow him.

“How rude of you, Wymack. Not even gonna say good morning first?”

Wymack turns to give him his trademark ‘I’m not paid enough for this shit’ look. 

Right after Andrew (and Neil) get inside Wymack’s office, he immediately notices there are more people there, including Renee, also known as the only other detective here he doesn’t totally despise. She smiles at him warmly when their eyes meet.

He directs a bored look at Wymack. “Are we having a party here? Lovely, but I have other shit to do, so-”

“Andrew for the love of a god that might or might not exist, shut up,” Wymack cuts Andrew off. “I’ve been talking with Whittier and we both came to the conclusion that it would be beneficial for the investigations if you and Neil had the assistance of a team that we selected.”

Andrew opens his mouth to protest but Wymack raises his hand, motioning for him to wait. “I know damn well that you’re pretty capable of handling it without any additional help, but having a capable team with you during investigations means that you’ll get different perspectives from the same event, which will probably make things go faster. The focus of this investigation continues to be you and android NW003, but you will have a team to accompany you to possible crime scenes and to assist you on investigations.”

Andrew knows exactly what Wymack is doing. He saw how distressed the man was yesterday when he told Andrew he’d be working with an android. He knows that even though Wymack insists on looking tough and intimidating, he’s just a big softie that would put three extra people to work on a case that needs no additional help whatsoever just so that Andrew won’t have to be alone with Neil all the time.

“Do I get any say on this?” Andrew asks, not really wanting to show a lot of resistance but also not wanting to agree so easily. 

“Not at all,” Wymack replies. “Now, from left to right, this is officer Matt Boyd, officer Allison Reynolds and detective Renee Walker. You’ll spend a lot of time together to get acquainted, so for now you’re all dismissed.”

Andrew has no intention of talking to any of them, only wanting to get back to his desk, but Renee catches up to him. “Hey! Do you think we could meet at the gym sometime this week?” She asks. He really feels like having a sparring session with Renee as soon as possible, so he nods at her and she walks away. That’s why Andrew tolerates Renee so much; she never asks questions he doesn’t want to answer and always knows the right moment to offer him to engage with her on some good kicks and punches.

Once he’s seated by his desk, Neil asks, “Is she your friend?”

“None of your business.”

Since Andrew’s been assigned to work exclusively on the deviant investigation, there’s not really much to do considering there haven’t been new cases yet, so he busies himself with finishing writing a few reports of some of the cases he was previously working on to pass onto the other detectives assigned to take them for him. Neil remains in silence the whole time, thankfully. 

The hours go by uneventfully, until, at approximately half past 2, the officer he’s been introduced to earlier - Matt Boyd - shows up at his desk with an urgent expression on his face. “We just got a call. An android went deviant and is now at the roof of a building holding a little girl with a gun to her head, threatening to jump with her if he’s shot. One person was injured and already taken by an ambulance.”

As soon as Matt says the words ‘we just got a call’, Andrew gets up, quickly takes everything he needs and start walking toward the exit, Matt and Neil following close behind. At some point Renee and Allison join them. Once they’re all inside the police car (Matt being the one driving), the siren is turned on and they speed through the street. 

The situation at hand is seemingly dangerous. An android threatening to kill a little girl, a child, is enough proof to show how they are all the same underneath the whole fake politeness and neutrality. There is nothing trustable about them. Hopefully they will get the android to let the girl go unharmed and them the damned android will be deactivated forever.   
When the cars stops in front of the building, Andrew freezes. He sees Nicky’s car parked just in front of theirs and instantly remembers he said earlier he’d have a private lesson to give today. Andrew hopes the Ashley girl doesn’t happen to live here. A lot of police cars are also surrounding the place.

The unspoken plan is to obviously go straight to the roof where the circumstances are more worrying. However, Neil seems to have another plans. When they all get inside the elevator he presses the button that indicates the floor where the family lives instead of pressing the roof button. Everyone looks at him oddly.

“I can only speak with the android once I figure out what happened earlier to make him do what he did. So while Andrew and I check the apartment the rest of you can go to the roof and access the situation.”

Andrew would normally refuse a plan like this, since they have no time to waste when there are lives in danger, but reasonably it’s better to be as much prepared as you can be for a case like this or else a little girl could potentially lose her life. The others seem to come to the same conclusion as him and they all not in agreement. 

When the elevator pings and they quickly enter the apartment - which was not hard to find, considering the huge amount of police officers coming in and out - Andrew dreadfully realizes Nicky is there, sitting in the couch and looking terrified. Andrew all but runs toward his cousin, immediately checking if he can see any sign of him being hurt.

He has no time to ask questions, so he only asks, “Are you alright?” and when Nicky nods and doesn’t show any signs of being unwell other than scared, he relaxes. 

“You should leave,” he tells him. “Actually,” he turns to the other people in the room and raises his voice, “everyone here should leave. We are the ones assigned to this case, so having that many people inside will just slow us down.”

The other police officers don’t seem to happy about it, but when they see there’s a police android amongst them, they all start motioning to leave, Nicky following close. Andrew hears one of them saying ‘I can’t believe they sent an android to investigate another android’, and he has to agree with them. 

Once everyone except the two of them are out of the room, Andrew takes in everything. The living room connected to a small kitchen is where the incident first took place. Everything is messy; there’s food splattered all over the kitchen counter and the floor, broken chairs tossed over, shards of glass on the floor. He also notices a trail of blue liquid on the floor, which seems to catch Neil’s attention, since he kneels by it, swipes a finger on the substance and puts it in his mouth. 

“Now that’s fucking disgusting.”

Neil gets up and looks at him. “This is blue blood. Android’s blood. The android was shot.”  
Someone must’ve reacted when the android started going rogue, then. The weapon now being used by the android is probably the same one used to shoot him. 

Further into the living room they notice a broken coffee table that has drops of what looks like blood (human blood, this time). Neil also swipes his finger over it and puts it in his mouth. “This is the blood of John Simpson, 47 years old. Probably the little girl’s father,” he concludes. They check the other rooms, too, the only one with the door open being the one of the girl. There’s an open german textbook in her desk, indicating that she was just having her lesson with Nicky before everything went to shit. Just the thought that something could’ve happened to Nicky makes his blood boil. Andrew also catches the sight of a framed photograph on her table containing her smiling and hugging tight a young man - an android, he sees the LED there on his face - who’s also smiling brightly. He puts it down quickly, not wanting to get angrier than he already is.

Once they’re done, they both return to the living room .“Alright, I think I have enough material to recreate what happened,” Neil says.

Andrew has no idea what the fuck he’s talking about. “What?” He asks, but Neil doesn't answer. When Andrew turns to Neil, he notices that the android’s eyes are wide open and unfocused. He doesn’t blink or move at all. For the first time since they met Neil looks like an actual machine. A few seconds later he comes back to himself, blinking for a bit, and then sighs. 

“Okay, so what happened was,” he points to the kitchen. “The android, called Luke, was cooking something when John Simpson appeared complaining about what Luke was making. The man started acting violently with the android, punching him and even shoved away the casserole of food he was making. Interestingly, I caught traces of Cracker Dust in his blood, which is an illegal drug that causes irritability and anger. That’s the moment the android appeared to have gone rogue; he snapped and shoved the man, making him fall.”

“John Simpson was not happy about it, so he went to grab a gun and shot the android here,” he points to the spot where the amount of blue blood is more abundant. “The gunshot noise made the girl and a man rush out of her room. When John got distracted by his daughter's appearance, the android took this coffee table here,” he motions to the broken table, “and knocked the man off. He then picked up the gun from the floor, grabbed the girl and went to the roof. That’s it.”

That was… a lot of information. However, Andrew has no time to ask questions. 

“Can we go to the roof now, then?” 

Neil nods and they both leave the apartment, heading quickly towards the stairs, since taking the elevator could probably take them longer than they could afford. 

Arriving at the roof, Andrew greeted by utter chaos; several police officer have their guns pointed to the android, who only screams threats and presses the gun harder into the girl’s head. The girl is sobbing loudly.

Allison comes fastly to their side. “The android says he’ll jump with the girl if he’s shot. We have a sniper targeting him, but she says the girl is too close for a clear shot and would end up falling off, too.”

“We need to convince him to let the girl go,” Allison finishes with a flinch.

Neil takes a step forward. “I’ll go talk to him,” he says confidently. “But I’ll need everyone here to drop their guns.” 

Allison looks wary about it but passes the command forward nonetheless. As soon as no gun is being pointed at the android, Neil takes careful steps towards Luke. Andrew gets a bit closer to hear and see the exchange about to happen between the two of them, but still maintains a reasonable distance. 

“Hello, Luke. I’m Neil,” Neil greets him, offering a friendly smile. 

Luke doesn’t seem to buy it. “I DON’T WANNA TALK TO ANYONE!” He screams. “I already told the cops I’ll only let Ashley go if you let me go first. I HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE FREE!”  
Neil takes another tentative step forward. “I understand the situation is unfortunate, Luke, but it’s our job to make sure no one gets hurt.”

“But what about me, huh? Whose job it is to make sure I’m not getting hurt? Why is her life more important than mine?!”

“It’s not a matter of whose life is more important, Luke,” Neil says in a soft, but firm voice. “I saw what happened there. It’s not fair for you to be abused while you’re doing your job. I understand why you are so stressed out.”

Neil’s attempt at showing compassion seems to anger Luke even further. “Don’t pretend to know what it’s like. YOU HAVE NO IDEA! You let yourself be used by them, let them treat you like a thing. Well guess what, I’m sick of being treated like a fucking object!” Andrew notices there are tears streaming down the android’s face and the gun holding the gun is trembling excessively. 

Neil raises his hands in surrender. “Sorry, you’re right I have no clue what it is like to go through what you went through. But things don’t have to be like this, Luke. If you let the girl go we won’t shoot you.” 

“You think I’m a fucking idiot?! I know you’re going to shoot me as soon as I let her go.” 

“We just want to talk for a bit. And then we’ll let you go,” he says while taking another step forward. “Just let her go and you’ll be a step closer to freedom. I promise you.” 

Luke hesitates for a while, but after a while he slacks her hold on her and slowly drops the gun. The girl immediately runs away. 

With the girl being out of the way and safe, the sniper gets the okay to shoot, which she does, straight into his chest. However, before he falls off the building, he directs Neil a betrayed look and says, “You promised.” 

After a few seconds a loud noise indicates the android fell. Neil seems completely unaffected by any of what had just happened. He turns to face everyone. “I need someone to pick up the android’s pieces and take them to Raven’s Tech so he can be reassembled and reprogrammed.” He then turns to Andrew. “We’re good to go,” he says, already walking towards the exit. 

——

The little girl, Ashley, luckily wasn’t hurt and her father only suffered from a mild concussion. However, just like Neil had informed earlier, the father’s toxicology exam showed he was under the effect of Cracker Dust during the attack and his house would definitely be searched by the police sooner rather than later. The usage of this drug is increasing alarmingly nowadays and the police is trying to find as many dealers as they can to arrest. John Simpson will probably have 2 to 5 years in prison ahead of him. Either way, this is not Andrew’s problem and he couldn’t care less about what happens to the man. 

When they got back to the office, the five of them went straight to Wymack’s to give him reports. Neil told him the entire situation and once he was done Wymack nodded grimly and told them to go to another room to discuss their visions on the case. 

The five of them are now sitting around a circular desk, looking tired and worried. 

“I have mixed emotions,” Matt says after a moment of silence. 

“Me too,” Renee agrees. 

Andrew doesn’t understand how this situation could provoke mixed emotions. He was glad the android was destroyed and that’s it. 

“Like… I know that absolutely nothing excuses someone hurting people, but-” he hesitates. “I always try to understand both sides, and when I put myself in the android’s position, I feel bad… I mean, he didn’t do anything until the man started being violent with him and he just wanted to be free…” Matt trails off, looking a bit unsure. 

“That android was not a person to ask for freedom,” Andrew says harshly, making Matt startle. “The android was made to serve and help, so there’s no excuse for acting out and demanding rights that don’t extend to him.”

“Yes, but-”

“Andrew’s right,” Neil interrupts Matt. “We androids were made to serve, that’s our whole purpose. Going against our programming defies our whole existence.” 

Matt sighs dejectedly. 

“Either way,” Allison chimes in. “The android must’ve been feeling a lot to get to the point of literally snapping.” 

Neil hums as an agreement. “That’s exactly why androids shouldn’t feel, in the first place. And that’s also why one of my main tasks here is to make sure these defective androids are captured and taken away to be reprogrammed.” 

Matt shrugs, “I guess.”

Luckily Renee makes them change the subject, moving onto discussing technical details of the case. They all seem to agree that the use of Cracker Dust was a crucial factor to determine what happened. Unfortunately they don’t have any other cases to compare this to. 

The hours go by and Andrew catches himself thinking about what Matt had said. There’s a tiny, hidden part of him that agrees with Matt’s worry, but when he thinks about how it was like to be in the position of that little girl, to be attacked by something that was designed to only help, and having to deal with the huge trauma that comes with it, he feels no remorse whatsoever. The world has enough humans making bad decisions and hurting people. The last thing they need is machines making bad decisions as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments and kudos are appreciated! i would love to hear your thoughts on this chapter! any theories so far?


	3. chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! who knew i could actually updade a fic so frequently? this never happened before lmao
> 
> this chapter is entirely in neil’s pov, so it might seem a bit ‘robotic’ at some points, which was the intention. since neil is still completely subjecting himself to his system he sees the world in a mechanical way, so it’s only fair i write his point of view just like that. (but don’t worry this’ll soon change just be patient with me)
> 
> WARNINGS: mentions of blood and murder (quite descriptive but not so much). if you think i should tag more warnings, please tell me in the comments!!

When they came back to the cousin’s house that night, the first thing Andrew did was checking up on Nicky. Well, he didn’t really express his worries in the way humans normally do - he went to the couch where his cousin and brother where playing video games, kicked Nicky’s foot that was laying atop the kitchen table and said “apparently you’re not traumatized enough to stop playing, you game junkie.” - but Neil could still sense the worry and the growing relief in Andrew. 

Nicky beamed at him, probably accepting his cousin’s unusual demonstration of care. He then started talking about a multitude of subjects, to which the twins sporadically gave monosyllabic responses. That didn’t stop Nicky from talking at all, even including Neil in the conversation at times. Neither Andrew or Aaron, however, made any effort to acknowledge Neil was there. While Aaron was still the most hostile to Neil’s presence, he could sense Andrew’s hostility decreasing a bit; nothing too significant, but it was there. Maybe Kayleigh would be pleased with this information. 

In the next morning, Neil stars preparing the breakfast. Just as he is finishing setting up a plate of french toasts, Aaron shows up, sneers at Neil and takes the plate from his hands. A few seconds later Neil hears the sound of the front door being slam shut.

The next one to show up is Nicky, who immediately grabs the nearest plate and starts serving himself as much food as he can possibly fit in his plate. “Dude,” Nicky says with his mouth full. It takes a second for Neil to realize Nicky is referring to him. After he swallows he continues, “How do you even know how to make food like this? This is fucking delicious.”

“Well, my system is equipped with a large variety of recipes and it allows me to copy them perfectly.”

Nicky shoves a forkful of hash browns into his mouth. “Man, do you think they could get this system installed in my brain? I can’t cook for shit.”

Neil blinks at the weird question. “Of course not, why would you even want that? Your human brain does not possess the capability of supporting a system like the one I have. Like you human say, it would most certainly fry your brain.”

At that, Neil notices Nicky choking. He quickly fills a glass with tap water, giving it to him. As soon as Nicky stops coughing and places the cup on the table, Neil sees that he’s actually laughing. He senses, then, a strong feeling of  _ amusement _ . “Neil, my dude, of course I wasn’t being serious! Oh my god, why is it downing on me only now that you androids don’t have a sense of humor? Man, I’m gonna have fun with that.”

Neil scrunches his eyebrows in confusion. “Of course I have a sense of humor. I can tell you thousands of jokes in many languages.”

“I’m sure you do,” Nicky snorts. “But I’m gonna ask you to save them for another moment. Andrew’s probably gonna be here at any moment, so…”

He waits for Nicky to finish his sentence, but he eventually gets the message that this is his cue to leave. “Oh, sure. Tell Andrew I’ll be waiting for him outside.” Nicky gives him a thumbs up and he leaves the kitchen. 

Neil finds himself back at the bench in the front porch. He takes a seat, looking at the view in front of him, which consists basically of an almost deserted road and similar houses on the other side. The grey sky makes it seem as if the day still hasn’t begun. It’s not a beautiful view by any standards, but Neil finds himself quite fixated with it for some reason. He sees a few people walking their dogs, the occasional car passing by, someone having their morning run, and he wonders how it is like being a human. How it is like forming bonds with people, how it is like having to deal with an overwhelming amount of emotions and still having the courage to keep on living, how it is like not knowing your purpose of existence. He wonders, but knows he’ll never get even a bit closer to finding out the answers. And he doesn’t even want to, anyways.

Bringing himself back to where he is, he checks the time and concludes he has at least thirty minutes until Andrew shows up, which probably gives him time to have a quick meeting with Kayleigh. He closes his eyes, reaches to her and then he’s at the Nest one more time, the dry trees, cloudy sky and flying ravens greeting him once again. 

Luckily he finds Kayleigh quickly enough; this time she’s sitting by the lake, her legs in the water. Neil sits next to her and she turns to him. “Hello, Neil. I was wondering when you would come here. You didn’t report yesterday,” she says calmly, but she’s not smiling like the last time he saw her.

“I’m sorry for not reporting. I got caught up in the house chores last night and ended up forgetting,” he explains. When she doesn’t say anything he takes it as his cue to say what he was meant to say yesterday. “We successfully stopped a deviant who was threatening a child. He fell from the roof of a building after being shot and his pieces were taken to Raven’s Tech. What is interesting is that the android became deviant after being physically attacked by his owner, who was under the influence of Cracker Dust. It is known that Cracker Dust contains the Thirium, which is a substance also present in android’s blood. I wonder if those two things could be connected or if it’s just a coincidence.”

Kayleigh hums. “Maybe they are, though there is no record of an android acting out because of being close to a human under the effects of Cracker Dust. You shall investigate this topic a bit further.”

“Of course.”

“And what about your relationship with detective Minyard? Has it evolved since the last time we talked?”

Neil could exaggerate a bit on his advances with Andrew, but he supposes the truth will be the best option here. “Well, there is still some hostility in him towards me, although I’ve noticed a considerable decrease of it. I’m sure he’ll get past that soon. And it isn’t even jeopardizing the investigation; he refuses to answer any personal questions I ask him, but he’s willing to cooperate when it comes to work.” Neil thought Andrew would be way more difficult to deal with, but he was surprisingly wrong. Yes, Andrew still feels uneasy and distrustful around him but he didn’t let it affect the task at hand, which was more than helpful. 

Kayleigh seems to accept his explanation. “That’s good, but I do expect to see some more significant changes in the future regarding the both of you. You are dismissed for today, Neil,” she says and he leaves the Nest.

When he returns to himself and opens his eyes he sees Andrew standing next to the door and smoking a cigarette. Neil promptly gets up. “Were you waiting for long?” he asks. 

“I just got here,” he says, takes a deep drag and blows the smoke away. He starts walking toward the car and Neil follows him. “Didn’t know androids slept.”

Neil gets inside the car and fastens his seatbelt before replying. “We don’t sleep. I was just reporting to my superior,” he explains. 

“And you meet this superior of yours in your fucking head, then?” Andrew asks sardonically. He wastes no time in pushing his foot into the accelerator, like he’s desperate to get to work as soon as possible.

“Yes. It’s like a physical mindplace and I can meet her there. She can be understood as the android equivalent to the human concept of consciousness, if consciousness was a person.”

All he says to that is, “This is fucking weird.” It doesn't take an android’s complex intelligence to know Andrew won’t be speaking anymore for the rest of the drive, and they spend the remaining minutes to get to the office in complete silence. 

Arriving at the office they have a slow day until Lieutenant Wymack shows up at Andrew’s desk demanding him and Andrew to follow him to his own office. Getting there he sees Renee Walker, Matt Boyd and Allison Reynolds, exactly where they were the day before.

“Wymack, I know you’re getting old, but we literally did this yesterday,” Andrew says in derision and takes a seat on the edge of Wymack’s desk. Neil is sure this isn’t correct professional behavior, but Wymack, other than giving Andrew a dirty look, doesn't protest otherwise.

With a pointed glare Wymack says, “I have no fucking time for this, Minyard.” Then he sits on his chair and grabs a remote control. “I’ve brought you all here to show you a video.”

He presses a button and turns on the tv located in the wall in front of his desk, showing the froken image of the Master - Tetsuji Moriyama, the founder of Raven’s Tech. Beside him there’s another android, dressed in all black just like Neil: RM001, or Riko. They were trained by the master at the same time, so that’s how he knows the other android. For some reason he cannot explain, Neil has to fight the urge of clenching his fists. 

“Tetsuji Moriyama released a statement about the incidents. This is the first time he’s speaking on this,” Wymack explains and then presses a button to make the video start.

“It has come to my attention recently that my androids are causing trouble to some people,” Tetsuji Moriyama begins, voice deep and devoid of any emotion. Riko just looks at the camera and smirks. “My raven androids were created to help and serve whoever is in need of them. I have always wanted to make humans and machines have a closer relationship, so that is what made me want to create the most perfect robots ever done, ones that look exactly like human beings, but with the intelligence and practicality of a machine. It is important for me to say that androids cannot become sentient beings, and what is happening right now is the product of a simple malfunctioning in their complex system that is making a few of them mimic human behaviour to the point of believing they are one of them. These few androids are being recollected and our team of capable engineers are working hard to reprogram them, in hopes that the malfunction is eradicated. Together, humans and androids can make the world a better place,” he finishes, the screen going black.

The memories of knives, screams and a smirk just like the one Riko showed on the video fill his mind all at once, making him close his eyes for a moment to try and steer them away. He doesn’t know how he can possibly be remembering things he never experienced and how these memories are causing him something akin to  _ pain _ .

The room is silent for a while. He only opens his eyes when he feels a hand on his shoulder. Matt is looking at him, worry apparent in his eyes. “Neil, dude, are you okay?” It’s only then that he realizes he has a tight grip on the edge of Wymack’s desk. He feels every single pair of eyes in that room looking at him, so he quickly lets go of it and gives Matt a small, friendly smile.

“Of course. I’m fine,” he replies. 

Neil turns to Andrew, meeting Andrew’s pointed stare with a casual one of his. He senses a heavy amount of  _ suspiciousness _ from him.

“Well,” Allison coughs from where she stands in the room. “That video gave me fucking creeps.”

Renee and Matt both agree with Allison right away. “It’s just so disrespectful of him to belittle the issue and to not even acknowledge the people who were victims of his androids,” Renee says, carefully glancing at Andrew. Neil guesses Andrew’s distrust of androids comes from him being attacked somehow, but he can’t find in his data base a single information about such occurrence. 

“And the weirdest thing is that I remember seeing that same android before in another video, the one Tetsuji made to announce the androids,” Matt adds. “And I’m pretty sure he looked  _ younger  _ then.”

“ _ Yes! _ ” Allison exclaims, pointing at him. “I  _ knew  _ I’ve seen that android before.”

Andrews whistles, leaning backwards in the desk and dangling his feet in the air. He’s so small he can’t even touch the ground. “And it keeps getting weirder.”

“Oh, you’re right,” Neil starts. “That android was RM001, also known as Riko. Just like me, Riko’s a prototype and he was actually the first successful android to be created. But the thing that differentiates us prototypes from other androids is the fact that we do age.” Sometimes he even forgets about this detail. He understands how this information can come as a shock to humans.

Which is exactly what happens. Save for Wymack, everyone reacts to it: Renee, Matt and Allison have their mouths hanging open and Andrew frowns at him.

“What do you mean you  _ age _ ?” Matt asks, seemingly very perturbed by the information.

“We don’t ‘age’ like human beings, but our system was programmed to make predictions of what we would look at different points of our lives if we were human and project them as time passes. So it basically gives the impression that we’re aging,” he explains. “The Master truly wanted to make androids as similar to humans as possible, so at first he also wanted us to age and inevitably die, just like human beings. However, the general public would prefer to have androids that don’t change their appearance or perish, so he decided to cut this part of the system when making the other androids.”

“‘Cause that’s not creepy at all,” Allison retorts. 

Wymack clears his throat. The others seemed to have forgotten he was even there. “I actually do own one of these prototype androids. They’re cheaper than the other ones. And don’t look at me like that, Minyard,” he says, addressing the judgemental look Andrew is giving him. “Abby and I needed help around the house, so we got Kevin.”

_ Kevin.  _ This name triggers more of those weird memories, though Neil cannot understand where they’re coming from. Maybe he should address this to Kayleigh next time he meets her. Perhaps there could be something wrong with him that needs some adjustment.

“Anyways, I didn’t call you here to judge my life choices so you all should-” He’s interrupted by the phone on his desk ringing. 

A few seconds after Wymack picks it up, Neil observes his expression becoming serious.  _ Concern, distress. _

“I’ll send them right away,” Wymack says in the speaker before hanging up. He sighs, rubbing the nape of his neck. “A body was just found. They suspect the killer was the victim’s android, who’s currently missing.”

“Yay,” Andrew says while promptly dropping himself off the desk, face completely expressionless. Neil would believe he isn’t feeling anything if it weren’t for him sensing the whirlwind of emotions inside Andrew.

* * *

The location of the incident is a bit far from the office, so it took them a while to get there. When they finally arrive at a nondescript house, police cars are surrounding it and yellow tape is separating the house from the external world. They show the police officers there their badges and are granted access to enter the house. 

Inside the house, the smell of decay is overwhelming. The person must be dead for at least three days, he thinks. “Oh lord,” Renee says, voice muffled by her hands covering her nose. Allison and Matt are cautious and alert, gun in their hands being meticulously pointed wherever they turn at. 

The living room is completely destroyed, not a single piece of furniture in place, and blood is everywhere. The brutality of the murder is clear without even having to see the body. They take a few careful steps into the living room and finally see it; a man lying on his back with his mouth hanging open and lifeless eyes that couldn’t quite shut all the way down in time. His shirt is shredded to pieces and soaked in blood. Neil gets closer to examine.

A quick look at his face tells him that the name of the victim is John Campbell, 57 years old. Died four days ago from knife wounds. Stabbed in the chest 25 times. Neil gets a sample of his blood and puts it in his mouth. Just like he suspected, he detects traces of Cracker Dust.

He passes the information to the others simultaneously.

Looking up from the body, he sees something written in the wall behind him. It says ‘WE DESERVE FREEDOM’.

“Is it written in blood?” Andrew asks from where he’s standing next to him. 

Neil doesn’t even have to taste it to know. “Yes, it is.”

They continue to examine the rest of the room, Renee going toward the connected kitchen and Allison following her. They pass by a wrecked television on the way to the first room in the hallway, shards of glass crunching against the soles of their shoes.

They enter a small bathroom. The first thing Neil sees is the sink covered in dry blood. The walls have more things written on in blood: ANDROIDS ARE NOT SLAVES, NO MORE ABUSE and THE FOXHOLE COURT AWAITS. 

“What is the foxhole court?” Matt asks. 

“I don’t know,” Neil replies. He has no idea what it means and never heard of it before. He’ll definitely have to investigate on that a bit further.

“Let’s check the other room,” Andrew says. “Then we can go meet Renee in the kitchen and go see the attic. Maybe the android is hiding there.”

The other room - the victim’s room - didn’t have anything interesting to the investigation. Neil did found, though, a small bag containing Cracker Dust, but it wasn’t anything that they didn’t know already.

Coming back to the living room area to meet Renee and Allison in the kitchen, Renee immediately comes to them and says, “I found the knife.” She leads them to the location and points to a spot in the floor under a cabinet. There it is, a kitchen knife covered in blood. The android must’ve been desperate to hide it somewhere, but ended up not having a lot of creativity when it came to actually doing it. Neil also takes sight of the rest of the kitchen; he spots dirty dishes in the sink, two broken bottles of beer in the floor and a few drops of what looks like blue blood. He takes a bit of it in his finger and puts it in his mouth just to be sure. The information he gets from it is that the blood belonged to android RD342, named Sarah.

“Great,” Neil says. “Now I have enough material to recreate what happened.” And that’s exactly what he does. His system quickly places together all of the clues found and with that he’s able to visualize the scene the way it happened.

“Before the accident the android was here, washing the dishes,” Neil starts. “John was in the living room watching tv and drinking beer. One moment he decided to come to the kitchen and break the beer bottle on the android’s head. He then grabbed another one and did the same thing. After he was done he got back to the living room and that’s when RD342 went deviant. She grabbed a knife from the counter next to her and went to where he was sitting. She first shoved the tv to the floor,” he points to the mess that was once a television, “and before John could process what was happening she attacked him. After she was satisfied with the stabbing she wrote the messages in the walls and ran away.”

“Where did she run to?” Andrew asks.

“I didn’t see it, but the circumstances indicate she’s still here. She’s probably hiding in the attic just like you suggested.”

This prompts the five of them to walk toward the ladder that leads to the attic and before Neil even gets halfway through climbing it, he hears a noise. He instantly spots her when he gets there, crouching behind a few stacked boxes. He points to her direction when the others also get there and Matt and Allison are quick to stand beside him pointing their guns.

The android doesn't seem to think she’s been discovered yet, but that won’t stay like this for long. He takes a step forward. “Android RD342 we can see you there, so show yourself.”

He observes her slowly getting up to her feet and raising her hands. “ _ Please _ , you don’t understand. Just let me go,” she cries.

“Hmm, I don’t like this word,” Andrew says gravely, taking a few steps forward and stopping beside Matt. Neil notices only then that he’s juggling knife with his hand. “How about you just stay quiet and let us do our job?”

The android brings her trembling hands to her face and cries a bit more. “I  _ know  _ I shouldn’t have done that, but he was abusing me! What was I supposed to do, just stand there and endure it? We androids deserve better,” she gives Neil a teary, significant look.

“Sarah, we’re just following the protocol here,” Neil says in a calm tone. “We would appreciate it if you let us handcuff you so we can take you somewhere to talk.”

Sarah’s shoulders slump and her arms hang. She looks defeated when she moves the boxes she was hiding behind and walks in their direction with her hands minimally raised. She knows she has nowhere to run to. Matt is quick to handcuff her. 

After, when Neil puts her in the backseat of a police car, she turns to him and says, “You should be ashamed of yourself.” Those words have no effect on him whatsoever. Neil’s doing his job and there is no shame in that. He offers no reply to her, simply closing the door and then walking to his own car. 

* * *

Andrew is quiet during the whole drive to the station, which is not uncommon at all, but this time is a different type of quietness. Neil has noticed Andrew normally uses silence as a way of not showing himself, of demonstrating disinterest so that people wouldn’t stick around. Talking can be dangerous when you have so many secrets, and Neil is absolutely sure Andrew has more than a few of them. This silence, however, indicates that Andrew is deep in thought; the frequent furrowing of his brows, the tension in his jaw and shoulders all show he’s probably debating over conflicting matters in his head.  _ Frustration, uncertainty  _ and a little bit of suppressed  _ compassion.  _

“Stop staring, android,” Andrew says flatly from where he sits beside Neil in the backseat of the car.

Neil averts his eyes away. “Oh, sorry.”

When they arrive at the police station, RD342 is already there waiting for them in the interrogation room, sitting by a table and surrounded by armed guards. Neil takes a seat directly in front of her and Andrew stands somewhere behind him. 

“So, Sarah. Can you tell us what made you kill John Campbell?” Neil starts.

“He constantly physically and verbally abused me. This time he broke two bottles of beer in my head and I snapped. The first thing I saw was a knife and I didn’t even have to think properly before grabbing it.” Unlike in the attic, where she was too emotional, now her voice is completely flat.

“And was that the first time you considered going against your system?”

She shakes her head. “No. There were several other times where I could’ve chosen to do something that was against what I’d been told to do, but I didn’t.” As androids, our system gives us possible options of actions based on what’s being presented to us at all time. The fact that her system itself showed the possibility of a deviant option was a huge indication that the deviancy was being caused by internal problems. 

“Do you think your deviancy was caused by something going wrong with your system, or do you think it was mostly caused by external factors, such as the aggression?”

That earns him a heated glare from her. “How the fuck am I supposed to know if there’s something wrong with my system? For all I know, _ that fucker _ was the one who had something wrong going on. You can’t expect to create androids so similar to humans and not have them refuse to being abused at some point.  _ He  _ was the one being inhuman, I just happened to get tired of it.”

“What do you think would be a good method to stop deviancy among androids?” He asks.

She scoffs. “Maybe the humans should start treating us with  _ respect _ ? We were made to serve but we never agreed to that in the first place. Make them give us androids the same rights the humans have and I’m sure there won’t be any more incidents.”

He’s afraid that is not a practical or possible method, but Neil won’t say anything. “Okay, I have one more question. You wrote something about a foxhole court. Can you tell me what that means?”

She widens her eyes and grips the arms of the chair tightly. “No.”

“No? Sarah, I need you to coope-”

“NO!” She cuts him off with a yell. “No, no, no, no. You will  _ never _ learn about it.” She continues to let out a string of ‘nos’ and shakes her head without a stop.

“Sarah, if you don’t tell me then I’m afraid I’ll have to access your memories.” Police androids could take a look at another android’s memories, but only in extreme cases. This one seems to fit the criteria.

“No, no, no. I won’t let you,” she says somberly and starts banging her own head violently against the table. Neil knows exactly what she’s doing and immediately gets up.

“I’m going to need everyone to leave this room  _ now _ ! She’s going to explode herself.” Luckily no one shows resistance to that and they all manage to leave before it happens. A few seconds later they hear a  _ boom  _ sound and once Neil deems it safe to go take a look, he opens the door and is greeted by the sight of destroyed and slightly burnt pieces of her scattered all across the room. She broke herself beyond repair and, just like she wanted to, Neil won’t be able to access her memories. 

“Oh my god, what happened?” Matt asks, horrified.

“She was under so much stress that she entered the self-destruction mode,” Neil explains. “All androids are equipped with a self-destruction mechanism just for safety, though I’d never seen or heard of it actually happening before.” Having her exploding herself was definitely not ideal, but Neil at least got some answers out of her. Finding out about the foxhole court will have to way, but he’s sure it’s just a matter of time. 

“Jesus, that didn't seem very safe to me,” Matt mutters under his breath.

Neil turns to a police officer that works at that station. “You can dispose of her pieces. She’s of no use to Raven’s Tech in that state.” The officer doesn’t seem too pleased about being given orders by an android but nods nonetheless. 

He then searches for Andrew in the room and when their eyes meet, Neil gives him a nod indicating that they’re all good to go. Andrew doesn’t nod back to indicate he understood the message, but starts walking away to the direction of the exit.

* * *

That night after they come back from work, Neil finds himself sitting with the cousins in their living room and watching the news on tv. Well, he isn’t really sitting  _ with  _ them; he’s sitting on a chair Nicky had pulled from the kitchen table and placed strategically away from the twins, but still close enough to the tv so that he could watch it. Nicky had said something about not being able to take Neil “creepily looming in the back all the time” and demanded he had a sit with them. Other than a glare at his cousin and then at Neil, Andrew didn’t protest it. Aaron didn’t even acknowledge Neil was even there. 

It’s peaceful for a while, taking turns in watching the tv and watching the cousins bickering, until Neil sees a face on the screen that makes him freeze.

“The android JM004, also known as Jean, reportedly ran away from his owner’s house and took his son, Jeremy Knox with him,” the reporter says and a photo of a young man in his early twenties shows up on the screen next to the android’s. “The man, Carlos Knox, says the android started acting violent out of nowhere and suddenly knocked him in the head with a pan. The android locked himself in Jeremy’s room and when Carlos managed to kick the door open, he saw the two of them from the window entering a bus. They were last seen at Sunset District, San Francisco. They are currently being searched for and if you happen to see them, call the number-”

Neil stops paying attention. All of a sudden, his vision blackens out and more weird memories come to his mind once again; pained screams, the horrors of seeing someone being hurt in front of you and not being able to help, a strong sense of acceptance that the worst is going to happen. Neil has absolutely no idea why this keeps happening to him. He’s never seen this android JM004 before, but why does his face is so  _ painfully  _ familiar to him? Why does it trigger memories he’s sure he’s never lived through? He’s becoming more and more sure that there  _ is  _ something  _ really _ wrong with him. 

But the best thing he can do right now is to hide his trembling hands and to force back a casual expression, pretending none of that happened. He couldn’t risk Andrew asking him about it (he already feels him staring at him, but Neil refuses to look back). He couldn't risk anyone misinterpreting this as a possible sign of him becoming deviant, which is definitely not the case. 

He’ll get his answers eventually. For now, he hopes no episodes like these will happen to him again. He fears what would be of him if they continue to happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some foreshadowing here, a little bit of thrown clues there, new characters being vaguely introduced...
> 
> tell me what you think! comments and kudos are always appreciated <3

**Author's Note:**

> sooooo that was it! if you enjoyed it, kudos and comments are very appreciated!!


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